Canada’s experiment with creating its own digital currency appears to be over.

The Royal Canadian Mint said Friday it’s halting development of its fledgling MintChip digital currency program and is now looking to sell the business.

The Mint had announced plans to develop MintChip back in April 2012 for use in small online payments. At the time, it described MintChip as the “evolution of physical money, with the added benefits of being electronic.”

Mint spokeswoman Christine Aquino said plans regarding the virtual currency “matured” and that the Mint considers turning development over to the private sector one of MintChip’s “natural next steps.” Read More »

A rare sale of Canada’s first gold coins prompted a flurry of interest, including from one collector who splashed out thousands of dollars last year for a slice of the country’s numismatic history.

In November 2012, the Royal Canadian Mint offered for sale about 30,000 five- and 10- Canadian-dollar coins minted between 1912 and 1914. They were the best out of a stash of some 246,000 gold coins owned by the government and billed as a “national treasure.”

“There’s never been anything like this in our history,” according to coin dealer Michael Barber, who said he snapped up “quite a few of the coins” after gauging interest from his customers.

Most of the coins had never been circulated. They were minted about 100 years ago as the then-government accumulated gold reserves to help finance its efforts in the First World War.

The Mint priced the coins at between 500 and 1,750 Canadian dollars each ($469-$1,640). It also offered 140 special boxed sets of six coins at C$12,000 a set. Read More »

When it comes to fledgling virtual currencies, it seems all anyone can talk about is the Bitcoin.

Interest in Bitcoin skyrocketed over the past month after the price of one unit soared as high as $266 in some markets before losing about 70% in value last week.

Bitcoin is a virtual currency created in 2009 that isn’t controlled by central banks, can be traded anonymously and is “mined” by computers which have to decode a complex math algorithm before obtaining currency units.

But what about Canada’s homegrown attempt at a reliable and secure form of virtual currency first announced last year? It remains on the digital drawing board. Read More »

It’s time to bid a farewell–of sorts–to the penny. The Royal Canadian Mint will stop distributing the one-cent coin on Monday, more than 150 years after Canada’s first penny was produced in 1858. The last penny was struck in May 2012, after the Canadian government decided to cease production of the coin as a cost-saving measure.

Pennies will continue to remain legal tender, and can be used for cash transactions “indefinitely,” the Mint says, with those businesses “that choose to to accept them.” But the Mint adds that, starting Monday, businesses should start rounding amounts for transactions made in cash.

Some fun facts about the Canadian penny, courtesy of the Mint.

–At 2.35 grams, a penny weighs about the same as a hummingbird.

–35 billion pennies have been minted since 1908, and the total weight of all those coins (103,617 tons) is almost double that of the Titanic. Read More »

This Saturday marks the 25th birthday for Canada’s dollar coin, known widely as the “loonie” after the loon, a waterfowl that haunts the country’s countless thousands of lakes with its eerie cry.

The Royal Canadian Mint is celebrating the occasion by striking a fine silver version of the coin featuring a new loon design. The mint’s description of the coin features some of the most poetic writing to come from a government agency in some time.

“Centered around the number ’25,’ two Common Loons swim majestically past one another, one admiring the Loonie’s eventful journey over the past 25 years while the other looks to the future and the many adventures to come,” it says. Read More »

About Canada Real Time

Canada Real Time provides insight and analysis into what’s making news in Canada, a country punching above its weight on the world stage thanks to its vast resources and strong banking sector. Drawing on the expertise of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, we take a look at developments in fields ranging from business to politics to culture. You can contact the editors at canadaeditors@dowjones.com